Firing apparatus for furnaces



M. F. COX.

FIRING APPARATUS FOR FURNACES.-

A'PPLICATION FILED OCT. 28, 1919.

1,870,683, Patented Mar 8, 1921'.

3 SHEET HEET 1.

meg f M. F. COX.

FFRING APPARATUS FOR FURNACES. APPLICATION FILED on. 28, 1919.

Patented Mar. 8, 1921.

M. F. COX.

RING APPARATUS FOR FURNACES. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 28. 1919.

Patented Mar. 8, 1921;

3 SHEETSSHEET 3- MILLARD F. COX, OF LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY.

FIRING APPARATUS FOR FURNACES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 8, 1921.

Application filed October 28, 1919. Serial No. 333,983.

1 0 (:ZZ whom may concern Be it known that I, Minn-inn F. Cox, a citizen-of the United States, and a resident of Louisville, in the county of Jefferson, State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Firing s for Furnaces, of which the fola specification. iil present invention relates to an improved method Oi firing furnaces, that is to supplying necessary fuel to the firebox.

invention is peculiarly adaptable to brick kilns.

Present day brick kilns are of a variety -,s; it may be said, however, that of th m are. circu ar, and have the proviued with s "onary grates or ng grates set on an angle of about =l5 or horizontal, according to the design of the iln builder. Air is admitted in abundance t1 :ough these grates, as well as through the firing holes, which makes the scheme a very wasteful one in so far as concerns the amount fuel used. firing of these kilns is don bv shoveling l fuel into the fireboxes bv hand. About every one and one-half h ours these firchoxes are filled to their capacity with green coal. It requires about seven to nine days to burn a kiln of brick,

l about forty or fifty tons of coal is consumed per kiln, according to its size, its contents, and other varying conditions. In extreme cold weather it requires from one to one and one-half days longer than it does when the weather is moderate.

The present invention has for its object to overcome the many disadvantages of the present method of firing these kilns and to provide an arrangement whereby the kilns may be fired not only with a saving of labor, but also with the utmost economy of fuel.

According to the invention, the kiln is equipped with a structural steel arrange ment for supporting a monorail hoist, with a suitable fuel conveyer and coal hoppers having a capacity sufficient for the complete burning of the kiln, the hoppers being so constructed as to give a free and unobstructed passage of coal, which may be fed into the fireboxes by gravity, and with means for regulating the amount of the feed. In this manner thefuel may be used slowly or fast, just as the occasion requires. For example, during the first few days the fire must he a slow one, and then gradually increased as the contents of the kiln absorb the heat and the moisture is driven off. This manner of firing will give an absolute uniformity, unknown at the present time by the use of the hand method. The regulatmg means for the discharge of fuel from the hoppers to the fireboxes is so constructed as to feed the fuel regularly and at intervals, so that perfect combustion may be obtained, and the gases which are now largely thrown out through the stack will be converted into an effective heat medium which will result in greatly increasing the efiiciency of the stoking, besides a saving in fuel. There will be no waste of the fuel. The fires will be of a medium depth and thinly fired, which is of utmost importance. The coal regulators may be entirely automatic, so as to govern the supply of fuel against waste or bad judgment of kiln tenders. However, for the purpose of illustration, I have shown the regulators as adapted to be manually manipulated.

Instead of the monorail hoist as a means of delivering the fuel to the hoppers, a gravity chute, belt conveyor, compressed air, or any other suitable method may be employed, but the preferred method is the one shown. In employing the monorail hoist, it should be so arranged that it may run from one kiln to another, thus enabling one hoist to serve any number of kilns. Another feature of employing a monorail hoist resides in using the same as a means for conveying away the ashes, to which end it is also proposed to supply a track around the kiln, with a small car which may be used for collecting the ashes from in front of each firebox, and when filled may be run to a point on'the track where the load may be taken by the monorail hoist.

In the accompanying drawings an arrangement of the preferred form of apparatus proposed by the invention is illustrated. In said drawings- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a brick kiln, illustrating the application of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view;

Fig. 3 is a sectionalview of a side of the kiln, illustrating the application of the invention; and

Fig. at is a plan view of the track arrange ment for removing ashes.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, A represents a brick kiln constructed along conventional lines and equipped with a structural steel support, comprising the vertical standards 1, preferably comprising I-beams and arranged around the side of the kiln on each side of the fireboxes 2, and providing a support for the monorail 3, which extends around the kiln and on which is run the hoist 4, having the usual operators cab and the grab bucket 6. 7 represents the hopper, which, in its'preferred form, is made up of a plurality of adjoining hopper sections 8, each supported by and between two of the uprights 1, whereby there will be one hopper section for each firebox. In the preferred form, each hopper section has an independent communication with a firebox, the communication consisting of a pipe 9 having a slip joint adjustable to accommodate the varying sizes of kilns due to expansion and other causes. It may also be constructed so as to be quickly detached and the firebox or boxes hand-fired in the event of some unforeseen emergency. Each of the hopper sections is provided with outwardly flaring side and end walls, terminating in a narrow restricted throat at the point of connection to the pipes 9. The regulating means is con structed in'this narrow restricted throat, and comprises a sliding fiat valve connected by a stem to a suitable operating handle 10.

In putting the firing method into practice, the conveyor will travel over the track 3 to a source of fuel supply, and when the grab bucket 6 has been filled, it will return to the kiln and deliver the contents into the hopper sections 8 until they have been filled to capacity. The regulating means is then manipulated to discharge the desired amount of fuel in the fireboxes. When the accumu lation of ashes makes it necessary to remove them from the ash pit, the ash car 11 is drawn up in front of any of the ash doors 12, and when filled is run to a point on the track 13; for instance, on the siding shown in ig. 4, located directly beneath the outgoing branah of the monorail 8, which will enable the grab bucket 6 to remove the ashes and convey them to a point of discharge.

The contents of the kiln be taken in and removed through the large door 14.

The kiln illustrated is a cylindrical one, and for this reason the monorail 3, in order to supply all of the hoppers, must extend completely around the structure, as best shown in Fig. 2, and the track 13, in order to remove ashes from any one of the ash doors 12, must extend around the bottom of the kiln (see Fig. 4). In the case of a number of kilns all equipped with this method of firing, the conveyer may travel over a monorail track arrangement, aermitting it to be'switched to and from the different kilns. The same also applies to the ash car 11, only in this instance it would probably be desirable to use one car for each kiln, and to have a more or less central point for removing the ashes from the cars by the con veyer. The particular construction of the superstructure l, as well as its several reinforcing beams, is of little importance, so long as it embodies an arrangement where the mechanism is not in contact with the brick work of the kiln; or in other words, so long as the steel construction enables access to be had to any part of the kiln for repair purposes. Further referring to the adjustable connection for the pipes 9, the slip joint, or rather, the telescoping sections of the pipe are connected to the hopper sections by a swivel connection, which will permit the sections of the pipe to be telescoped one within the other.

Claims: 1. In combination with circular, brick kiln, having a plurality of fireboXes, of a structural steel support, a circular track on said support, a convey er adapted to travel on said track, coal hoppers disposed on said support beneath said track, communications connecting said hoppers with the fireboxes, and means for regulating the effective discharge area of said communications.

2. The combination as set forth in claim 1, in which the said communications comprise pipes having telescoping sections and a swiveled connection with the hopper.

3. In combination. with a circular brick kiln, having a plurality of fire boxes, a fuel hopper, a conveyer system for delivering fuel to the hopper, communications bet veen each of the fire bones and the hopper,means for controlling the discharge of fuel from the hopper into the the boxes, said fuel hopper comprising a plurality of troughs, each having an independent fuel capacity, and constructed with flaring side and end walls terminating in a narrow discharge throat, said communications between the hopper troughs and the fire boxes comprising pipes having telescopic sections and a swivel connection with the narrow valve discharge throat of the troughs.

4:. In combination with a circular brick kiln, having a plurality of fireboxes, of a structural steel support, a circular track on said support, a conveyor acapted to travel on said track, coal hoppers disposed on said support beneath said track, communications connecting said hoppers with the iireboxes, means for regulating the effective discharge area of said communications, and a circular ground trail: around the bottom of the kiln adjacent the ash doors of the fireb :;es, and an ash car adapted to travel on said track.

MILLARD F. COX. 

